March 2012 Current Events: Disasters & Science News

Here are the key events in Science and Disasters news for the month of March 2012.

Tornadoes Rip through the South and the Midwest (Mar. 2): Several tornadoes and severe thunderstorms hit 17 states, causing at least 27 deaths and injuring hundreds. Southern Indiana, northern Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and southern Ohio are among the hardest areas hit. The tornadoes and storms are caused by a warm, unseasonable air mass mixing with colder air.

Mysterious Noises Shake up Wisconsin Town (Mar. 21): Around 400 people attend a meeting in Clintonville, Wisconsin, to express their concerns over mysterious night noises that appear to be coming from underground. Police receive hundreds of calls about the noises, which started on Sunday, March 18. Citizens describe the noises as loud booms, as if someone is beating on a pipe underground. According to some, the booms are so loud that at times the ground shakes and windows rattle. Authorities have no source or explanation for the noises. (Mar. 22): Authorities are now saying the cause of the ongoing noise is coming from minor earthquakes. Seismic monitors are picking them up, including one which had a magnitude of 1.5 in the Clintonville area on Tuesday night. Authorities say the minor earthquakes are amplified by the underground bedrock in the area of Wisconsin. Addressing Clintonville residents, city administrator Lisa Kuss explains, "In other places in the United States, a 1.5 earthquake would not be felt. But the type of rock that Wisconsin has transmits seismic energy very well."